''People should know
that these pesticides they are putting on their lawns are killing the
birds,'' said Saratoga County communicable disease coordinator Pat Willson.

Wildlife pathologist
testing dead birds for West Nile virus found most birds die from pesticide
poisoning, not West Nile virus. There has not been a West Nile positive
bird since 2000 in Saratoga County, but there have been plenty of dead
birds. Some birds appear to have been poisoned deliberately; others die
from the overzealous use of pesticides aimed at bugs. Still others appear
to fall victim to pesticides not used in years, such as DDT.

Local pesticide alternative
advocate and garden store owner, Joe Nemec is not surprised at the poisonings,
"people in the Northeast have a very low tolerance for bugs."

Although already detected
in other New York Counties this season, no West Nile infected birds have
been found in Saratoga.